


Hopes So Juicy Ripening

by angelsaves



Series: Cat-Bros... IN SPACE [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Crack, M/M, Multi, Werecats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 19:20:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7983226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsaves/pseuds/angelsaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith is a werecat, and he wants to make out with Shiro, and definitely does not want to make out with Lance. ...Well, some of that is true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hopes So Juicy Ripening

**Author's Note:**

> keith's cat form looks like this cat, only with purple eyes: [mullet cat](https://imzy-default.imgix.net/prod/posts/lb8lz8j8e.jpeg)
> 
> the title comes from this poem: ["she sights a bird --"](http://www.mum.org/emily507.htm) by emily dickinson

Look, Keith is really good at dealing with his shit, okay? Most of the time, anyway. ...Some of the time. At least _once_ , Keith has successfully dealt with a thing. But, God _damn_ it, he was not prepared to turn into a cat while living in a space castle. 

Okay, fine, maybe he should've been. It's been a while since his last transformation -- like, it might have been since... uh. He counts back on his fingers. It... might have been since he was back at the Garrison. Shit, that's, like, over a year.

No wonder he's a stupid cat right now. _God_ , this sucks. Keith stomps out of his room on stupid little cat feet. Maybe he can chase the Altean mice for a while, burn off some energy.

He's just past the dining hall when he hears Lance whistling his way around the corner, and then: "Oh my god! Nobody told me there were space-cats around!"  
Keith stops and looks around in horror, ears flattening. This can _not_ be happening. Not _Lance_ , of all people.

"C'mere, kitty! Who wants snuggles? I bet it's you!" Before Keith can scamper out of reach, Lance scoops him into his arms. He opens his mouth to hiss, but -- oh. Hey. "That's right," Lance coos, rubbing Keith's ears. "I'm, like, the best there is at petting cats."

For once, Lance is actually _underselling_ it. Keith can't help but purr, feeling Lance's warm fingers on the itchy place behind his jaw, and on his ear muscles, and right at the base of his tail, oh, yeah, that's the spot. This is _awesome._

He doesn't realize anybody else is there until Lance says, "Oh, hey, guys! Allura, you didn't tell me there was a cat here!"

Keith jumps in Lance's arms, whipping his head around to see Allura, as well as Shiro, who's hiding a smile. Oh, great.

"We --" Allura starts to say, looking perplexed. Shiro elbows her, and she says brightly, "Oh, of course! The -- cat! Which has been here all along."

"It's just been busy," Shiro says, and the big jerk, he winks at Keith. What is he playing at?

"I feel that," Lance says seriously. "You had cat things to do, huh, li'l guy?" He scratches under Keith's chin, which is his only weakness. ...One of his weaknesses. He's still pissed at Shiro, but he's purring anyway, like, against his will. Also, against Lance's hands.

"He definitely had cat things to do," Shiro says. "Seems like his big thing right now is getting petted, though."

"Fuck you," Keith meows. "You wish you were getting pets like this."

"I know, right?" Lance says. "I'm so good at this. I bet you wish you found me sooner, but we're totally going to make up for lost time."

"I bet you are," Shiro says, and he's barely even bothering to hide the laugh anymore. "Come on, Allura, let's leave them to it."

~~~

So, one thing leads to another, and Keith ends up tearing around Lance's room after a piece of ribbon tied to a stick -- who knew that Lance's sewing hobby could be so much fun? Lance is laughing like crazy, and Keith kind of wants to make him laugh more, so he decides to show off and try doing a flip in midair.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lance catches him right before he falls off the edge of the bed. He cradles Keith close, stroking his fur. It feels really, really good, and Keith forgets to be embarrassed at his miscalculation, just enjoying the quality pets.

Then he feels it -- the telltale flicker at the base of his skull, letting him know that he's going to shift back to his human shape really soon. "Hey, put me down," he meows, patting Lance's arm with his claws sheathed. "Now!"

"Okay, I see how it is. Important cat business," Lance says. "Don't think we're done, though, Mister Fancy-Tail. I got a lot more snuggles where those came from!"

Keith doesn't want to think about how nice that sounds. He headbutts the door and meows, "I gotta go, dude!"

Lance opens it. "Later, li'l guy!" He calls to Keith's retreating tail.

His own room is too far, but Keith is pretty sure he can make it to Shiro's if he runs. 

"Hey! Let me in!" he meows, scratching at the door until Shiro gets it open, then leaping over the threshold. He shifts back midair, catching himself in a somersault and landing neatly by Shiro's bed.

"Nicely done," Shiro says. "So, that was hilarious."

"You asshole!" Keith gets to his feet, incredibly glad that he'd eventually figured out how to shift pants along with his body, and takes a swing at Shiro.

"Whoa!" Shiro catches Keith's wrist. "Calm down!"

"Calm down?" Keith yells. "You let Lance _snuggle_ me!"

"I thought it would be weirder to stop him!" God, Keith's struggling is barely affecting Shiro's balance at all. It's affecting Keith plenty, though, which is -- not the point! "I'm sorry. Stop trying to hit me and tell me how to do better next time, okay?"

" _Fine._ " Keith goes limp. Why does Shiro have to be such a good guy, anyway? It's annoying.

Shiro gently drops Keith onto the bed. "I don't know how anyone _doesn't_ know you're a cat," he says, and sits down next to him. "I'm just saying."

Keith crosses his arms over his chest. "I'm great at subtlety," he informs Shiro.

"Sure," Shiro says. "Compared to _Lance._ "

"Hey! And I don't know what you should've done, okay? I just wanted things to... go right."

Shiro pats his arm. "Did you guys have a good time, at least?"

"Shut up," Keith says, wittily.

"Sounds like somebody wants a noogie," Shiro says, grinning sidelong.

"I don't want a noogie!" Keith swats at Shiro's hand. "God, is that what you think I want from you?"

"Keith!" Shiro sounds surprised. "What kind of guy do you think I am?"

Well, this is awkward. Keith flops one arm over his eyes. "I was kind of hoping you were the kind of guy who'd make out with me, actually."

Shiro forces a laugh. "Very funny," he says. "Come on, Keith, wouldn't you rather make out with someone your own age?"

"What, like Lance?" Keith scoffs, eyes still covered. "Shiro, dude, I _waited_ for you. I was so messed up when you disappeared that I punched Iverson and got kicked out and went to live in a shack in the desert!"

"I -- for me?"

Keith sits up and looks Shiro dead in the eye. "For you," he says.

"I've been trying to --" Shiro starts, then stops and shakes his head. "I've been _thinking_ of you as -- a younger brother."

"Well, stop." Keith leans in, summoning all his bravery, and kisses the angle of Shiro's jaw.

Shiro shudders under his lips. "Keith," he says, resting his Galra hand on Keith's shoulder. It tingles. "I can't -- I have to think about this."

"That's not a no," Keith says carefully, sitting back.

"No, it's not a no." Shiro squeezes a little, then presses a soft kiss to Keith's cheek, almost shyly.

"I'm gonna go," Keith says, avoiding Shiro's eyes so he doesn't do anything else stupid, like climb into his lap.

"Okay," Shiro says. "And... thank you. Your... your, uh, regard means a lot to me."

"Cool." Keith gets up and leaves without looking back. 

Okay, that could have gone worse, but God, he hates feelings. Well, there's one good way to avoid having them, and bonus: now that he's shifted both ways in a matter of hours, it'll be easier to control. Keith concentrates and drops into his cat form.

Once he's a cat again, Keith can't think of a good reason not to go back to Lance's room. He scratches at the door and meows, "Hey! Come pet me!"

"Hey, Mister Fancy-Tail!" Lance sounds super happy to see him, which puffs up Keith's cat ego. "Come on in!"

Keith steps daintily into the room. "Pick me up," he meows, going up on his haunches and waving his front paws in the air to make his point clear.

"You want a hug from the Lance-man? I gotcha covered." Lance lifts him into the air and kisses his little cat nose. "Aren't you just the cutest? It's true, you are."

He's not wrong. Keith's seen mirrors; he knows he's a fine feline specimen. He rewards Lance by bonking their foreheads together ceremoniously and purring.

"It's definitely snuggle time," Lance declares. "Possibly nap time, too. What do you think?"

"That sounds pretty good," Keith meows, and yawns, letting Lance ease him down to the bed and curl protectively around him. He's warm, he's not making Keith talk about anything, and it's good. Keith snuggles up under Lance's pointy chin, sighs, and falls asleep.

~~~

A knock on the door startles Keith awake, making him accidentally headbutt Lance in the chin. "Lance? Are you in there?"

"Shiro!" Lance jumps up. Keith presses his face flat against the mattress -- maybe if he can't see them, they can't see him. "Uh, come on in!"

"Thanks," Shiro says, and Keith feels his human hand rub gently between his ears. Damn it, that invisibility trick never works. "How are you and the cat doing?"

"Mister Fancy-Tail and I are great, thank you," Lance says. "How are you?"

"Good. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Uh-oh. Keith doesn't like the sound of that. He sits up and starts pointedly licking his front claws.

"Okay," Lance says. "I don't find that at all unnerving. What's up?"

"Do you know much about werecats?" Shiro asks.

Keith freezes with one claw between his teeth, and the fur of his tail starts to stick up. What is he doing _now?_

"Not a lot, there weren't many back home," Lance says carelessly. "Maybe a couple at the Garrison? There must've been, I remember the shift room. Always looked comfy to me. Why? Is somebody a werecat? Man, you think you know somebody, and then they turn out to be a girl or a werecat. Not that those are bad things to be! I'm a big fan of girls. And werecats. Are you a werecat?"

Shiro looks a little winded when Keith peers up at him. "No, I'm not a werecat."

"Is it Hunk? Ooh, I bet it's Pidge. Pidge is probably a cute li'l kitten." Lance scratches behind Keith's ears. "Who do you think it is, Mister Fancy-Tail?"

Shiro coughs. "I don't think it's either of them."

"Are there Altean werecats?" Lance asks.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Keith meows. "It's me, you idiot." Then he realizes that he doesn't really feel like waiting for Lance to figure out the process of elimination, so he shifts back to human and repeats himself: "It's me."

Unfortunately, he hadn't really thought about how much more room he takes up as a person than a cat, and now he's sort of crammed between Lance and Shiro. In just track pants. Not awesome.

"M-Mister Fancy-Tail?" Lance stammers. His hand is still on the back of Keith's head, which feels embarrassingly good.

Keith doesn't want to think about it, so he knocks it away. "Oh, come on," he snaps, tucking his knees up to his chin and wrapping his arms around them. "How many cats have you seen with purple eyes?"

"I didn't know you had purple eyes." Lance scowls at him. "Okay, fine, they are very pretty. Purple. That's what I said, is purple."

"I'm just going to --" Shiro starts to say, shifting his weight.

"You don't have to go anywhere," Lance says quickly. "We can just hang around like three attractive friends, in a friendly way."

"Okay," Keith says, because he wants to see what Shiro will do, and definitely not because Lance keeps accidentally calling him good-looking. That has no effect on him whatsoever. ...Well, maybe just a little.

"Sure," Shiro says. "Like friends." He settles back down on the bed.

"Cool!" Lance's voice goes high-pitched. "We could -- play a sexy game? A friendly game! A game, like friends are known to play, on Earth, where we are from."

"You're so weird," Keith says, just because it seems like it needs to be said. "I could play a game, though."

"Not Truth or Dare," Shiro says quickly. "I... had a bad experience once."

"Too many people trying to kiss you?" Lance nods. "I know how that is, my guy."

"Oh, you do not," Keith says. "Like you've ever kissed anybody."

"Like you have," Lance retorts.

"I'm sure we've all kissed people," Shiro says, holding out his hands placatingly.

"So many people," Lance insists.

"I've only kissed a couple, but, you know, quality over quantity," Keith says.

"Me too." Shiro's voice is soft, and Keith goes hot all over.

"Hey, my kisses are the highest quality! I'd show you, but, you know, I don't know if you could handle that." Lance makes a show of examining his fingernails.

"I could handle it," Keith snaps.

"Uh," Shiro says.

"I'm great at handling stuff!"

"Sure, like how you have to be a cat to admit you want to be my friend," Lance says cuttingly.

"I could admit it as a person if it were true!" Keith shouts.

"Mister Fancy-Tail can't get enough of me!"

"Guys," Shiro pleads.

Lance turns to him. "You're an outside observer, Shiro! Does Keith like me or what?"

Shiro rubs the scar across his nose. "I think you have the potential to be great friends, but it takes work, okay? From both of you."

"God, you're diplomatic," Lance says. "I'm so impressed that I almost don't even care that that wasn't really an answer." He narrows his eyes. "Almost."

Keith leans back on his elbows. "Yeah, almost. You have to answer."

"Yeah, Shiro!" Lance mirrors him.

Shiro glances back and forth between them. "I kind of think you do."

"Yes!" Lance goes for a high-five, and Keith returns it automatically, then recoils like it burned him.

"Hey! Don't trick me with your... trickiness!" he cries.

"That's Lance," Shiro says. "Tricky."

"I got what I wanted, didn't I?" Lance says, which is a fair point.

"I guess we can be friends," Keith allows. "You really are pretty good at pets."

"That's the kind of camaraderie I like to see among the team," Shiro says, patting them both on the shoulders. "Now, how do you two friends feel about dinner?"

~~~

When Keith goes to bed that night, he assumes he's going to sleep the sleep of the righteous, out like a light the second his head hits the pillow. He's disappointed.  
"This is ridiculous," he tells his pillow, then punches it. "I don't need to toss and turn all night, I need to get some damn sleep!"

He flops onto his back and growls at the ceiling. Fine. If he has to jerk off, he'll jerk off. Stupid libido. Keith licks his palm and shoves down his shorts, fisting his cock fast and hard.

Probably Shiro wouldn't touch him like this. He'd be gentle, right? Keith slows down, loosens up, pretends he's trying to _woo_ the person whose cock he's stroking. Shiro would use his human hand for this, Keith's pretty sure, so he could be sure Keith was enjoying it.

Lance wouldn't be that careful. He'd be impatient about it, and -- wait, the fuck? Why is he thinking about _Lance?_ Why is thinking about Lance making his cock leak?

No way is he going to think about Lance while he's jerking it. No _way._ He's going back to thinking about Shiro, Shiro leaning over him, propped on one elbow, rubbing his thumb over the head of Keith's cock, while Lance digs his chin into Keith's shoulder and makes comments --

"God _damn_ it!" Keith pounds the mattress. Why does Lance keep getting into his fantasies? Is this some kind of remnant of the Galra infection in the castle? ...No, that's stupid. It's just one of those things, like, you're not even really responsible for your fantasies, are you? They just kind of happen.

So, fine -- he'll go with it. Keith pictures being sandwiched between Shiro and Lance, Shiro jerking him off while Lance critiques their technique and grinds his cock against Keith's ass. "Oh, _fuck,_ " Keith says, jerking himself faster.

Would Lance finger him, if he got up the guts to ask? Whatever, it's Keith's fantasy -- if he wants fantasy-Lance to be into butt stuff, then fantasy-Lance will be into butt stuff. Keith sucks one finger into his mouth, pretending it's Lance's instead, fuck, and gets it nice and wet.

Lance would probably like that, the way Keith wraps his tongue around his finger and flicks the tip, and then he'd get eager and just -- stick it in, oh --

 _Patience yields focus,_ Shiro'd say, just like when he was tutoring Keith in martial arts back at the Garrison, reaching around to slow Lance's thrusts down. _You want to do this right, don't you?_

Keith goes slower and deeper, adding another finger to feel the stretch, and thinks about not being alone, and _keens_ as he comes. Good thing their rooms are soundproof.

Cleaning up, he decides that wasn't bad. Okay, it was better than "not bad." It was maybe the best jerk-off session he's ever had. The important thing, though, is that he's going to fall the hell asleep.

~~~

Keith could swear that he's only been asleep for a minute when the klaxon sounds, followed by Allura's voice: "Paladins, to your lions! There's a distress signal coming from Cyrea!"

Groaning, he gets into his uniform and runs to the zipline. "Do we have any other info?" he asks into the com.  
"Cyrea is a peaceful planet," Coran tells them. "They're known for ther beautiful water features and their delicious lussap wine. As a matter of fact, if you wouldn't mind picking some up..."

"Coran!" Allura says sternly.

"Sorry, sorry! As I was saying, the Cyreans are very friendly and known to hate the Galra."

"Tell me more about this wine," Hunk says. "Think it'd be good for cooking?"

"Oh, most certainly!" Coran says, which Keith doesn't actually find reassuring.

They go through the wormhole -- that will never stop being cool -- and find Cyrea with just three Galra ships in orbit.

"We've got this one, team," Shiro says. He spins out the plan, a short one, and they spread out, taking down the three ships like the well-oiled, psychically-linked machine they are.

Then Keith gets a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Guys, I don't feel so good," he says. "Wait -- it's not me. I think it's Red!"

"Oogh," Lance says. "I feel like Hunk."

"I feel fine," Hunk says.

"Me too," Pidge says.

"What about you, Shiro?" Keith asks. "...Shiro?" He's just starting to worry when the sinking feeling suddenly intensifies. "Oh, quiznak --"

~~~

Keith comes to in a heap in the corner of Red's cockpit. "Guys? Does anybody know what happened?"

There's no answer. Great. Keith gets to his feet carefully, checking himself for injuries and finding nothing worse than bumps and bruises, and peers out of Red's viewfinder. He can see the black and blue lions, which look about as banged up as he and Red feel. No sign of the green or yellow lions, but no sign of Galra, either.

He tries one more time to rouse the other paladins over the com, but it's no good. He's going to have to get out of the lion and go check on them old-school style. As he climbs out, he sees that Shiro and Lance have had the same idea: the three of them meet in the middle, all rubbing their sore places.

"What happened?" Lance asks immediately. "Are you guys okay?"

"I'm fine," Shiro says, which is probably what he'd say if he had a sucking chest wound, Keith thinks fondly. "You two?"

"Fine," Keith says.

"I'm okay, just a little bruised," Lance says. "Mostly my pride, by which I mean my fine, fine ass."

"Nobody cares about your ass," Keith informs him.

"I'm glad you're all right," Shiro says. "Now, we should work on -- _whoa!_ "

"Holy --" Lance yells, and then the wall of water blocks out anything else, sweeping them away from their lions.

Keith is not exactly the world's greatest swimmer -- fine, he can barely dog-paddle -- so it's basically nothing short of a miracle that he manages not to drown before Shiro finds him. By that point, it's all he can do to cling to Shiro's shoulder and let him drag him up to the surface.

"Kick!" Shiro shouts, and, water-logged and coughing, he does. Just as suddenly as it appeared, the water recedes, and there's Lance, flopped on a sandbar.

"Shit," Keith says, struggling to get up.

"Stay there." Shiro jogs over to Lance and flips him onto his back, careful of his head and neck, then opens his airway -- and Lance starts to cough.

"D-D-Dude, were you g-going to give me mouth-to-mouth?" Lance demands, pushing up on his elbows.

"Of course, if you n-needed it," Shiro says. "We're a team."

"Yeah, duh, I meant that in a t-t-teamly manner."

"Your t-teeth are chattering," Keith points out. "We've gotta find shel-l-lter."

Shiro stands up and surveys their surroundings. "I can't see the l-lions from here," he says, "but there's a c-c-cave over there, above the tide line. Let's check it out."

The cave smells like a cross between a tide pool and a pet store, but it's dry and out of the wind, so maybe they'll stop shivering soon. ...Any minute now.

"We're g-going to have to conser-r-rve body heat," Lance says. "These w-w-wet clothes can't be helping us warm up, either."

'You watch t-t-too much porn," Keith snaps.

"He's n-not wrong," Shiro says slowly. "We should at l-l-least take off our outer layers, and g-g-get comfortable together."

Lance looks like he's been hit over the head. "R-R-Really? I mean... really?"

"Really." Shiro's already shrugging out of his uniform. "I d-don't want anybody getting hypothermia."

This is the first time Keith's seen Shiro without a shirt on since before the Kerberos mission. There is no way -- no way -- that he's going to strip down to his boxers and pop a boner with Lance here. "This is s-s-stupid," he says, and shifts into cat form.

Immediately, Keith is warm and dry and fluffy. He starts industriously grooming his stripy tail to avoid watching as Lance and Shiro undress. There's just so much skin on display, and then Shiro awkwardly wraps his human arm around Lance's shoulders, pulling him close.

Keith wants to feel that closeness, and as a cat, he can't think of a good reason not to. He jumps into Lance's lap, curls up right where he's leaning into Shiro's embrace, and starts to purr.

"Okay, buddy," Lance says. "Come on over, we can always use more cuddles." He pets Keith's cheek with the backs of his fingers.

"Hey, you're not shivering anymore," Shiro says.

"Must be my influence," Keith meows. "Or else how hot you are, Shiro."

"It's totally how hot you are," Lance says. "...I mean... your arms are... warm? Oh, God, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Shiro says. "I'm flattered."

"If you guys start making out on top of me, I'm going to scratch your eyes out and then kill myself," Keith meows.

"I'd never -- I mean -- you and Keith," Lance says. "I don't want to come between you -- that's a filthy lie, I'd love to come between you, but as in coming my brains out, not as in being the other man. Oh, God, somebody please stop me." He claps one hand over his own mouth, way too late.

"Wow," Keith meows.

"Lance," Shiro says, "Keith and I aren't together."

"You're not?" Lance sounds actually shocked. "I thought you had been, for, like, ever."

"We're not," Keith meows, and digs his claws into both of their thighs at once.

"Keith!" Shiro taps him on the nose. "That hurt!"

"Good." Keith puts his ears back.

"Aw, Keith," Lance says, stroking his fur. "Do you wish things were different?"

Keith butts his head into Lance's hands for more pets. "You have no idea," he meows.

"Look, I... I'm not in the best place right now," Shiro says. "For either of you. You both deserve better than... this."

"There isn't better than you," Lance says in a soft voice. Apparently the asshole has good taste in humans as well as in cats.

"That's really sweet of you," Shiro says. "I hope this doesn't make anything awkward."

"Nah," Lance says. "Why would it be awkward?" He rubs the back of his head. "Keith can sleep between us."

"Hey," Keith meows. "Did I offer to sleep pressed between the two guys I..." He trails off. Like he's going to turn this down?

Lance and Shiro lie down on the floor of the cave, which is covered in something like pine needles, with Lance's head on Shiro's shoulder. Keith squeezes himself comfortably between them, curling his tail up to his nose and kneading Lance's abs with his paws. Yeah, this is pretty good.

"Goodnight, guys," Shiro says.

"Night," Lance says.

Keith purrs.

~~~

"They are here!" Keith jolts awake, fur standing on end, at the chorus of unfamiliar voices. "We have found them!"

"Great!" Hunk's voice is tinny and distant. "Can we talk to them?"

"Of a certainty," says the Cyrean who comes around the lip of the cave, holding a radio, skinnier than Lance and half again as tall. "Paladins?"

Keith shifts back to human quickly, as Shiro and Lance pull on their clothes. "Yes," Shiro says. "Hunk? We're all right, but we aren't sure where we are."

"The Cyreans know. They have a form of satellite radio, basically," Hunk says. "It's actually really interesting!"

"Point?" says Keith.

"Right! So we can talk to you, and we can help you repair the lions from orbit, but we can't land, because of the --" Hunk goes on with some technical stuff that Keith doesn't bother to listen to.

"How long is this going to take?" Shiro asks.

"From the histories, no longer than a few sun-cycles," says the lead Cyrean.

"That's okay, right?" Lance says. "A few days isn't bad."

"We will celebrate you, of course," says another Cyrean, who has blue hair, "with large quantities of foodstuffs and lussap wine."

"Sounds like a vacation!" Lance high-fives Keith.

"You copy, Hunk?" Shiro says.

"We copy. We'll be back in orbit to check in every day at this time, sound good?"

"Sounds good. Stay safe."

The Cyreans have hoverbikes; Keith feels like a chubby baby koala clinging to the blue-haired Cyrean's back as they ride to the city. It's a long ride, a few hours, but they make some pit stops for bathroom breaks and a drink that's something like coffee. The city turns out to be bright and shiny-clean, and Keith likes the look of it.

"Let us loan you clothing while we clean yours, so you may join us for the feast," the leader urges them, taking them to a huge bathroom with shower stalls.

"We appreciate your hospitality," Shiro says with a little bow.

"Oh, God, I appreciate their hospitality so much," Lance says, sighing deliciously, when he gets out of the Cyrean shower, wrapped in a robe that swathes his lower body but just barely meets across his chest. Keith's robe leaves him with a pretty wide V-neck; Shiro is so broad that the neckline is practically indecent. "Looking good, Shiro," Lance says.

Keith just raises his eyebrows. "Ready to go?" he asks.

"I was born ready," Lance says.

Shiro fusses with the tie of his robe, as if it's suddenly going to expand. It doesn't. "Let's go."

The feast is -- wow. It's really impressive, especially for such short notice. The long table is piled high with platters, and nothing on any of them resembles green goo. Keith's mouth waters.

"Do you require descriptions of the dishes' contents?" asks a Cyrean, bending low to reach Keith's ear.

"Uh, I don't think so? Thanks, though."

Fortunately, after that, none of the food turns out to be poisonous. Some of it's weird, sure, but nobody dies and everybody ends up full, which is Keith's measure of a good meal. When they're done eating, the plates disappear like magic, replaced by tall glasses of a deep orange wine.

"Lussap wine!" the leader says happily. "Highly prized throughout the universe. Please, indulge yourselves!"

Keith and Lance glance at Shiro, then each other. "Coran would never forgive us if we didn't," Keith points out.

"Good enough for me! Bottoms up!" Lance takes a swig. "Man, that's good!"

Not to be outdone, Keith drinks some too. "Huh," he says, wiping his mouth. "That's really refreshing."

"I like it," Shiro says. "Ah, sir, could we have some lussap wine to take home?"

"Of a certainty! I will have some fetched before your departure," the Cyrean says. 

"Thank you so much," Shiro says, and takes another sip.

By the time they stumble to the room set aside for them to sleep in, Lance has had two glasses of lussap wine, Keith one and a half, and Shiro not quite a full one, but Shiro is by far the drunkest of the three. "'m not drunk," he insists, leaning heavily on Keith.

"Oh, that is where you're wrong, my good friend Shiro," Lance says. "You are drunk. You're _wasted._ "

"'m not! 'm tispy." Keith eases Shiro down to sit on the huge bed. "Keith, you b'lieve me, right?"

"No," Keith says. "It's okay, though."

"It's hard!" Is Shiro actually pouting? "You guysh don' know how cute an' nice you are!"

"This is getting good," Lance says, sitting cross-legged on the other corner of the bed. "Think the Cyreans make popcorn?"

"How cute and nice are we?" Keith asks.

" _So _cute an' nice," Shiro says. "I wanna kiss you on your fashes. Faces. Or I'd wash you make out, if y'wanned."__

"Huh," Lance says. "That's not what I was expecting."

"But I wanna snuggle the most," Shiro goes on. "Do you guys wanna snuggle?"

Keith and Lance exchange a glance. Well, they're not made of stone, and it wouldn't be the first time. "Yeah," they say at the same time.

"Aweshome!" Shiro beams and flings his arms wide, and Keith and Lance pick their sides -- Keith left, Lance right -- and help Shiro to lie flat. He wraps his arms tightly around them and starts snoring almost immediately.

They lie in comfortable silence for a while. Keith is just starting to drowse when Lance reaches across Shiro's chest and takes his hand. "I'd make out with you," he says.

"If Shiro wanted?" Keith asks softly.

"If _you_ wanted."

"Oh." Keith thinks about it. "I'd make out with you if you wanted. I think I'd like it more if he did watch, though."

"Yeah," Lance says dreamily. "Me too."

"Cool."

~~~

The next morning, Keith wakes up with Shiro's arm heavily across him; evidently, he woke up exactly enough at some point to flip onto his stomach, and no more. "Morning," Keith says, in case either of the others is awake too.

"Morning," Lance says, from Shiro's other side.

"Oh," Shiro says. His stillness goes from "probably asleep" to "really awkward." "My head…"

"You need water," Keith says. He lifts Shiro's arm, climbs out from under it, and goes to the fountain-sink-thing. There are cups next to it, so he fills one and brings it back. "Gotta sit up."

"Mmph." Shiro does, with none of his usual grace, and drains the cup. "I haven't been this hungover in years. I hope I wasn't too embarrassing."

"Apparently," Lance says, drawing out the word, "we are cute and nice, and you want to kiss our faces."

"Oh, God." Shiro covers his face with one hand. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Keith says, refilling his water. "We've kind of already established that it's mutual."

"Yeah," Lance says. "We're good." 

"Can we talk about this after we do some work on the lions?" Shiro asks.

"Sure," Lance says. "We've got time."

The Cyreans turn out to have transported the lions to the outskirts of the city while the paladins slept. "We have many tools and supplies for your use," the leader tells them. "There are also workers who would be pleased to assist you."

"Thank you," Shiro says. "We'll see what we can do on our own, first."

By the time Pidge calls to check in, Keith's got Red's scientific-magical interface, or whatever, rebooted. After that, he can't really explain what he does. Most of it is just listening and doing what he's told -- not usually one of his strengths, but he trusts Red like he's never trusted an authority figure. By lunchtime, Red is almost back in working order; by the time they decide to break for the evening, all that's left is cosmetic stuff.

"Nice work," Lance says. "It's going to take me most of tomorrow to get Blue done -- think you could help me out?"

"You really want my help?" Keith asks, surprised.

"Uh, yeah, duh. You're good at this. You have a really strong bond with Red."

"Thanks," Keith says. It gives him a warm glow. "It wasn't easy at first."

"How are you guys doing?" Shiro asks, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Red and I are pretty much set," Keith says.

"Blue still needs some work tomorrow," Lance says. "Keith's going to help."

"That's great!" Shiro looks genuinely happy.

"So, you said you wanted to talk later." Lance stretches, cracking his neck and back in at least three places. "Is it later yet?"

"Uh." Shiro rubs the back of his neck. "I guess so. Let's sit down."

"Okay." Keith sprawls comfortably on the purple-green grass. Shiro and Lance join him. "So, are we going to make out?"

"Guys," Shiro says. "Wouldn't you rather just make out with each other than with… a broken soldier?"

"Oh, like we've had it so easy," Lance says sharply.

"Yeah," Keith says. "I grew up mostly a _stray cat,_ dude."

"…That explains a lot, actually." Lance pats Keith's shoulder. "Anyway, if we want to make out with you, and you want to make out with us… we should."

Keith hooks a thumb at Lance. "He makes a compelling argument."

"We could do it first," Lance suggests. "You can see if you're into it."

Shiro leans back on his hands. "You could do that."

"Okay," Keith says.

"Really?" Lance blinks. Clearly, he's not going to make the first move, so Keith straddles his lap and presses their mouths together, angling their faces so Shiro will get a good view. 

"Oh, God," Shiro says, half groan.

Lance's hands come up into Keith's hair, and it feels so good that Keith can't help but moan into the kiss and grind hard against Lance. He makes himself pull back and turn to Shiro. "Sure you don't want any of this?"

"Oh, quiznak," Shiro says, and then he's pulling Keith's face to his for a sweet, deep kiss.

" _Oh, quiznak_ is right," Lance breathes. "I see what Shiro meant about wanting to watch. Keith, you try it." He tilts his head and captures Shiro's mouth, and oh, God, watching the slick movement of their tongues and the way Lance's eyelashes fan across his cheek, hearing the soft sounds they make -- it's almost as good as feeling it.

Still in Lance's lap, Keith rolls his hips down and kisses Shiro's neck, where he's sweaty, but somehow not in a gross way. It's good, oh, fuck, it's good -- he never wants it to stop.

Of course, that's when Shiro pulls away, gasping for breath, and says, "Guys, we can't --"

"I think we've just conclusively proven that we can," Lance says. His mouth is all red.

"I meant _here_ ," Shiro says, starting to smile. "We're kind of… out in the open."

"But we're going to keep going in private, right?" Keith asks. "Just to be clear."

"Yes," Shiro says. "Yes, we are."


End file.
